Amazon.com® and Instructables Science Fair!

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first man-made satellite, Sputnik. The United States answered with the Vanguard TV3, which rose four feet before exploding on the lauchpad. The perceived technology gap ushered in the space race, an era of unprecedented excitement and support for science and engineering. Engineering colleges were flooded with new students, while grade schools quickly scaled up their science curriculum.

Since then the world has become complacent, and the great powers are mostly at peace. Without a clear external foe, scientific motivation has withered. It's time to prepare the next generation of physicists, chemists, biologists, and engineers for the next great threat- from SPACE!

To enter the Science Fair, demonstrate and explain a physical principle in the Instructables format, and incorporate this lesson into a fun project. It can be your version of a classic project with better explanation or a neat twist, a home translation of a lab experiment, or something totally novel. Just take great pictures, explain the physical principles clearly and thoroughly, build a great project, and get us excited about science!

Rules:1. Publish your Instructable and add it to the Science Fair! group from July 12th until August 31st, 2007. Only projects published within these dates are eligible.

2. We want to see a great explanation, demonstration, and instruction on your chosen physical principle. Be clear and thorough- readers should be able to understand the concept and replicate your experiment given access to appropriate tools. Remember, you're helping educate the next generation of rocket scientists!

4. Were your parents sad they couldn't help out with your school Science Fair project? Well, not only are we OK with it, we ENCOURAGE parent-kid collaborations! In fact, we're giving a special prize to the best family collaborations!

JudgingAll contest entries will be judged for merit. Judges will evaluate each Instructable for the following:

clear photographs (2+ megapixel preferred), use macro mode for close up shots

use of photo-notes where appropriate

list of parts and tools required (if appropriate)

safety notes (if appropriate)

usefulness

creativity

technical merit

Judges from Amazon.com, Instructables, and past contest winners will evaluate the entries by the above criteria, then vote for winners using range voting, the same system used in Olympic scoring. We'll announce the winners by Monday, 10 September 2007.

Additional InformationYou must be 18 or older to enter. If you are under 18, you can still enter, but to win you will need to verify that you had the permission of a parent or guardian (we will have a permission slip for you). The best solution would be to have your parent join you as a collaborator on your Instructable to make you eligible for the Family Collaboration prize!

International entries are great! Amazon.com is a global company, and will be happy to give gift certificates to winners world-wide. Amazon.com gift certificates are awarded in US dollars only.

You may enter as many different Instructables as you like, however they will be judged on individual merit and you may only win one prize per contest. An Instructable may be entered in multiple contests if it meets the relevant criteria.

Winner is responsible for all taxes (we will remind winners at the contest's end.)

Amazon, Amazon.com and the Amazon.com logo are registered trademarks of Amazon.com Inc. or its affiliates.1Amazon.com gift certificates are issued by A2Z Gift Certificates, Inc. and are redeemable only at www.amazon.com. See www.amazon.com/gc-legal for terms and conditions of use of Amazon.com gift certificates.